A couple days, a few more, and a couple more

Well, I guess I remembered why this took so long to finish...  Just when I thought I was on a roll and enjoying the afghan, it started to seem like it was getting nowhere again.  Then I ended up with more work than I anticipated.  So a couple days turned into a few more, and then a couple more, and a week later, I have finished knitting the afghan!

Started well over a year ago (2/24/12 to be exact-Thanks Ravelry!) it seems rather appropriate this knit containing yarn colors Dublin, Peapod, and Umber would be completed on March 17, 2013-St. Patrick's Day.

It measures a bit over 5 feet (long enough to cover me head to toe!) and probably about 3 feet width-wise (ankle to waist on me, or outstretched arms-able)

This used up almost every bit of my 3 skeins of Dublin, 2 and a bit of the 3rd skein of Peapod, and 3 plus 2/3rds of the 4th skein of Umber.

I ended up modifying the color pattern in the end because I was running low on the colors called for and had plenty of Peapod left.  Honestly, Peapod is my favorite color in this, and I wish I would've used more of it...  But this is for the living room and that may have come across to bright.  

The pattern was easy to memorize, but did require constant counting.  I tried to get away with knitting by sight only to find that wouldn't help until it was too late.  I will definitely use the pattern for another blanket because I really love the look of the zig zags.  Two more are on my list, and the yarn already purchased, variegated and self-striping.  It will be fun to see how those turn out!

More shop updates!

Another four listings have been added today, all neckwear.

One cowl, the Owl Cowl, which is a nice shade of brown. It can also be worn as a ponytail hat.

A purple and orange scarf; it has 'hairs' of purple spiking out amongst the orange suede. Very fun!

Shades of pink in fluffy ruffles makes up another fun scarf. It is long enough to wrap 2-3 times around your neck.

The last listing contains two color choices for the same scarf. Ice, which is light blue, and Sweetheart, which is light pink, are fluffy and warm!

Go to DenKnits on Etsy to see it all.

Long overdue..

I started an afghan for the living room... Over a year ago. I took my time deciding colors, yarn content, and pattern. Then I ordered the yarn, Knit Picks Brava Worsted, a machine washable worsted weight yarn. The pattern that inspired my afghan was the Updated Ripple Pattern which I found through the Lion Brand Yarn pattern pages. The actual knitting is the same for my project, but I organized my three colors in a Mossimo inspired pattern. Thick and thin stripes of brown, dark green and bright green zig zag through my afghan.

I worked rather diligently on this at first, but the never ending feeling had me moving on to smaller, quicker projects. On a couple occasions I was inspired to pick it up again and thought I might be done. I'd mapped out my pattern for so many rows and when I finished that I thought the afghan might be finished... The length just wasn't there and I had plenty of yarn left, so I added to the pattern and kept on... for a bit... then lost interest again.

This weekend I decided to start up again and am now determined to finish it. I have less than 100 rows to go, three skeins of yarn... But compared to what I started with its looking good. I've made good progress just the past couple days so I think in a couple more I could be done.

And it's about time!

Shop update and coupon code

More items were added to the shop today, mostly neck items. Scarf, cowl, ponytail hat/cowl, and a fashion scarf. Since I sold the Dropped Raspberries hat yesterday, I added a listing for that hat style in your choice of color, made to order!

In celebration of the restocking of my shop I'm offering a coupon code for free shipping... Message me through any site and I'll give it to you.

Etsy shop updates

Finally getting around to updating my shop on Etsy, Denknits.Etsy.com!

Today's additions include a colorful chevron cowl, two colors of mini bandanas, a ribbed hat, a drop stitch hat, and a selection of colors in a cables and ribs hat.

Tomorrow I plan to add a few more neck warming items, so be sure to keep an eye on the store page!

Productive knitting weekend

Starting this past Friday I found myself with more free time on my hands than expected and was happy to fill that time with knitting related things.  I'd slowly worked through knitting several baby items over the past couple of months and was able to finish the sleeves on a baby girl top and then rinse/block the whole lot. (No pics on those yet as I am cautious about ruining the surprises)

While those were drying I started up a project with some souvenir yarn from boucle in Fargo ND.  I bought the one skein thinking it could be a hat, cowl or possibly socks.  Once I was ready to work with it, I felt like a hat... unfortunately the yarn did not.  I tried two different simple styles and neither was working on my head, so I easily converted it to a cowl.  I've worn it a couple days now and think it is a nice addition to my collection.  The seed stitch and the yarn combined to look like pixels to me so I called it the Pixelated Sunset.

I had another skein of souvenir yarn, this one from ImagiKnit in San Francisco, that I'd been wanting to turn into something so that was next.  I'd actually had this skein for about 4 months and had been thinking about what it would be for that whole time.  As it usually happens, I couldn't find an existing pattern that was what I wanted so I set to make one up as I went.  The Cowl/Kerchief was born.

Having finally accomplished knitting things out of my most recent purchases, not to mention items just for me, I decided to work on a quick knit that will be part of a more complicated piece requested by DH.  For Christmas this year I made my boys Mohawk hats and was surprised that my husband kept trying to steal them.  I had enough left over yarn to make another one but hadn't gotten around to it yet.  In the meantime, he went skiing and saw people with what he describes as viking mohawk bearded hats.  So the fairly simple mohawk hat now needs a beard piece as well.  I quickly knit up the grey ribbed cap part but have set that aside while I search for bulky yarn in a white shade.

With time still on my hands I decided to browse my Ravelry favorites for something to work on next.  Since I'd just finished two cowls at hat was on my mind.  I finally found a project in the Meret hat by Woolly Wormhead, a free pattern by a designer I'd been meaning to knit.  I had some yarn that would work at the top of my stash and I cast on for the small size, mostly because I was worried about yardage.  After a day and a half and half way through the hat I realized two things.  There was plenty of yarn left and the hat was a little small.  I cast back on for the medium and am back to knitting.

Cowl Kerchief

I had a hank of Berroco Campus that I purchased as souvenir yarn at ImagiKnit in San Francisco a few months ago that I'd been trying to decide what it was meant to be.  I'd finally gotten some downtime from my 'real' job this weekend and set out to create what I'd come up with in my mind.

I love the shawls that can be worn as triangle kind of scarves but they don't usually stay in place or fit around my neck right.  I thought something like a cowl would be good to fix those aspects.

Since I just created as I knit, and only have the one example, I'm posting my directions as a free pattern here.

Berroco Campus is a 130 yard wool/acrylic/alpaca blend bulky yarn.  I used size 11 circulars as I have a tendency to be a tight knitter.



CO 54 stitches and join in the round, place a marker at the join
Knit one row, *purl one row, knit one row, purl one row, knit four rows, purl one row*, knit six rows, Repeat * to * one more time
Place a marker on stitch 27
Knit six rows, increasing on the first stitch, the stitches before and after the markered 27th stitch, and the second to last stitch
Purl one row, knit one row, purl one row, knit one row, BO stitches between markers and knit the rest of the row

The cowl portion is complete and the triangle part will be worked next

Purl one row
Work decrease row as follows K2tog, k to last two, slip one, knit one, psso
[Knit one row, knit one decrease row, purl one row, knit one decrease row, purl one row, knit one decrease row, purl one row *Purl 2tog, purl to last two, slip one, purl one, psso, purl one row*, Repeat * to *, knit one decrease row, purl one row, knit one decrease row] two times
Knit one row, knit one decrease row, *purl one row, knit one decrease rows*, repeat
BO last three stitches

Optional fringe: Cut 38 12 inch long pieces of yarn, use a crochet hook to add on at the purl rows as well as three evenly spaced in the 6 knit rows